It's a Hard Life
by Kat the Writer
Summary: [Camp Lazlo] Read a story about the hardships of a cat Squirrel Scout who happens to be Raj's cousin. Please R&R and no flames.
1. Chapter 1

Howdy, folks! This is my first Camp Lazlo fanfiction, so please be nice. This story is mostly about my fan character, Karen McGrowl, and her family. Since most people don't know about her, this is the perfect opportunity to learn about her life.

So, enjoy and review after each chapter please. Since there are only three chapters for this story, it won't be too hard. Ok? Thanks!

Disclaimer: Neither Camp Lazlo nor its characters belong to me. They belong to Joe Murray and Cartoon Network (bless you). Karen, however, does belong to me since I created her. Please ask before you use her in your fanfictions. I would very much appreciate it.

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Chapter 1: Family Matters

It was the early afternoon of a day in mid-July when Lazlo, an optimistic monkey, was running in a field of colorful flowers and laughing cheerfully. He sat down to rest on the soft blanket of fresh flowers and soak in the amazing atmosphere. At times like this, he wished that every day was like this. After a moment of tranquil thought, Lazlo stood up and ran again.

It didn't take long until something interesting up on a tree branch caught his eye. He climbed the tree to see who or what it was and found a familiar girl holding a flat object. He smiled and decided to greet her.

"Hi, Karen! What are you doing?" Lazlo asked the girl.

This girl, known as Karen, turned to glare at the monkey. It was obvious from the pointy ears, orange fur, and long tail that she was a cat, and her uniform hinted that she was a Squirrel Scout. As soon as she saw who spoke to her, she stopped glaring at him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Lazlo! What are doing here?"

Lazlo shrugged. "I dunno. What's that in your hand?"

Karen quickly realized that the object in her hands was still showing, so she hid it behind her back. "It's...nothing...none of your business!" A strong gust of wind blew the object out of her hand and towards Lazlo.

Lazlo caught the object and saw that it was a colored photo of two grown cat people, one that was male and the other female, two young cats of different genders, and a kitten in the grown female's arms. All of them had orange fur except for the young male cat, who had gray fur. Out of curiosity, Lazlo asked Karen, "Is this your family?"

Slightly embarrassed, Karen snatched the photo from Lazlo and looked down. "Yeah, that's them. Pretty pathetic, eh? This was taken the day before…before…"

Lazlo blinked. "Before what, Karen? Please tell me."

"Before my parents became criminals, got arrested, and sent to prison! Now are you satisfied?" Karen jumped down from the tree and marched off angrily, leaving Lazlo bewildered by that fact. 'No wonder Karen's so tough,' Lazlo thought to himself.

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I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I guarantee that the next chapter will be longer. Please R&R, and limit on the flames. Besides, all flames will be used to burn the marshmallows. Raj would not like his marshmallows to be burned…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Picture This

A few hours later, Lazlo headed back to the Jelly Bean cabin where his two best friends, Raj and Clam, were waiting. He sat on top of the bed and sadly sighed. "Hey, guys."

Raj and Clam looked at each other with worried expressions and turned to look back at Lazlo. It was Raj who spoke up first. "Lazlo, what is the matter?" "What is the matter?" asked Clam.

"It's Karen," Lazlo explained. "I came up to her and noticed her holding a photo of her family. She didn't seem too happy about it, though."

"You wouldn't be happy either if your parents were sent to prison for life," Raj said, "and the only people who could raise you were your older siblings, who have separate lives of their own."

Lazlo looked even sadder than before. "That's terrible! Maybe we should cheer her up." "Cheer her up," Clam said in agreement. Raj looked skeptical at first, but he eventually agreed to help. This was about his cousin, after all.

Back at Acorn Flats, Karen was now leaning against the flagpole with her arms crossed in front of her and her eyes closed. A lot has been on her mind since her recent encounter with Lazlo. Why anyone would be curious about her personal life was beyond her, but she had to let the matter go. After all, she had ice cream monitoring duties soon!

She was about ready to walk away from the pole when she opened her eyes again and noticed that Lazlo, Raj, and Clam were standing in front of her. "Let me guess," Karen said with a sigh. "Edward is making fun of you again? No, wait a minute…You want me to tell you more about my family."

Lazlo and Clam nodded. Raj stepped up to Karen and said, "We just want to hear what you have to say." "Yeah," Lazlo and Clam said in unison.

As much as she didn't want to discuss her personal matters with other people, Karen simply shrugged and took out her photo again. "I suppose it's ok since it's only you three." Oh, how wrong she was…None of the four didn't realize that the other Bean Scouts, except Edward, were watching curiously from the bushes nearby.

Karen showed the picture to the three Jelly Beans and pointed out all of the family members to them one by one. "Ok, these two grown cats are Mom and Dad." She faced her cousin and smiled. "They're better known as Uncle Trevor and Aunt Sharon to you, Raj."

Raj smiled back as he stared at the two happy couple. "If only they hadn't attempted to rob banks and museums. They wouldn't have to be so notorious."

Karen nodded silently, but she continued with the picture. "These two…They are my older siblings. The gray one is my brother, Davis. He's fifteen years old right now, and…he's the gang leader of the Chainsaws back in Chicago. He still takes care of me, though, since he's my legal guardian. My nineteen-year-old sister, Katrina, is currently living in California. She's going to college to become a doctor someday."

Lazlo and Clam stared in amazement. "Wow, that's neat!" "Neat!" Then Clam pointed to the kitten carried by Sharon. "Who's that?" he asked with curiosity.

"That…" Karen began, "was me when I was born." She stared at the little kitten wrapped around a bright pink blanket and looking as happy as any newborn. "I almost didn't realize how cute I looked, but I guess I…" She was suddenly interrupted by an applause coming from the bushes. Karen turned to see that the other Bean Scouts were clapping for her.

"That was so sad," Ping-Pong said as he and Dave wiped tears from their eyes. Samson and the lemmings were cheering excitedly. "Go, Karen!" Chip and Skip exclaimed as they raised their hands in the air.

This act only made Karen steamed from being so embarrassed. "What is this!" Her glare made everyone suddenly stop applauding. She turned to Lazlo, Raj, and Clam. "Is this your idea of a joke? I don't like to share my secrets publicly!" She turned her back to them and started to walk away. She has never felt so humiliated in her life.

Raj was about to run after her, but he felt like it was a bad idea. He didn't want to make her angrier than she already was now. He felt a hand on his shoulder as Lazlo faced him with a frown. "I'm sorry, Raj. I shouldn't have suggested the idea in the first place," Lazlo said. Raj smiled reassuringly and said, "It's ok. I think Karen will feel better if she was alone."

Lazlo and Clam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, leave her alone," Clam stated seriously. "Let's go back to camp," Lazlo suggested.

The other campers looked sad as well as the three Jelly Beans. After they said their sorrys, they left to go back to Camp Kidney except for the dung beetles, who stayed in the bushes as they watched Karen walk away…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Farther Back

If there was one place in Acorn Flats where Karen felt the most comfortable in, it was the gymnasium. She could slip on her boxing gloves, step up in front of a punching bag, and feel like she was back in the ring again, just like in Chicago…No, wait. Not in Chicago…anywhere but there…Karen punched the hanging cushion bag with her powerful right hook and continued punching with swift reflexes. This was the most effective way to release her anger and stress without having to hurt anyone else. It was also a good way to forget about what was happening around her, especially when some new visitors were watching her.

The dung beetles, Chip and Skip, had come into the gym and sat down on some chairs close to where Karen was training. They stared at her fighting moves in wonder. Then Chip turned to face Skip and said, "Have you seen a girl fight like that before?" In response, Skip shook his head and said, "Nope, not at all. Where did she learn to fight like that?" Chip shrugged.

"I learned these moves from my brother, if you need to know," Karen said after she was done with her training. She seemed to have calmed down because she was grinning at the twins. "He taught me all of his moves, and I was only three years old when I learned them." After a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the dung beetles, Karen continued. "I dream of being the world's greatest child boxer ever known to sports' history, but that's just silly."

"Nuh-uh," Skip disagreed. "We've been watching you punch things, and you're really tough." Chip nodded in agreement and said, "I think you can be a world champion boxer if you want to."

Karen smiled sheepishly. "You really think so, guys? Well…thanks. You know, I feel kind of better since I told you this. I don't know why…I guess I'm just nervous that other people won't support my goals the same way that my family does."

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes. None of them said anything. Then Skip blinked before speaking to Karen. "Do you have anymore of those fictionals? Those were yummy!" Chip smiled and added, "Yeah, do you have any more peanut butter and jelly fictionals?" Skip noticed the confused look on Karen's face. "I think it's actually bologna and cheese," he said. Chip frowned and said, "Really? I thought it was grilled cheese."

Karen watched them talking about the fictionals…er, sandwiches…She grinned and shook her head in an 'oh brother' kind of way. There was just something about these two that made her forget her troubles easily. Maybe it was the way that they acted similarly to her brother; they may be slow and dull-witted sometimes, but at least they care about other people's problems. "I don't have any tuna sandwiches right now, guys. Maybe later…"

Much later in the mid-afternoon, a letter and a small package arrived at Acorn Flats. Both of the items were labeled 'To: Karen, From: Davis". The only dilemma was that nobody in Acorn Flats knew where Karen was at that moment. She had finished her training an hour ago and she didn't bother to tell anyone where she went next. Fortunately, a certain Bean Scout knew where she was and he was in the woods close by the girls' campsite. So Patsy Smiles volunteered to take the letter and package to this Bean Scout so that he can give them to Karen.

"Clam, I'm counting on you to safely deliver these to Karen. She'll be so happy," Patsy explained to the albino rhino. "Got it?" She smiled as Clam nodded and saluted. "Good luck." She turned around and headed back to Acorn Flats.

Clam turned around and walked off to find Karen while saying, "Safely deliver to Karen, make her happy." He searched on top of many tree branches where he thought she would be, but he didn't find her. So he looked inside of the bushes, but he still couldn't find her. Clam suddenly came up with an idea and headed for the field of colorful flowers. There he saw Karen lying in the middle of the field, looking up at the blue sky and fluffy white clouds. He walked up to her with a smile and showed her the letter and package.

Karen sat up to take a closer look at the two items. "Are these for me?" she asked Clam. When Clam nodded, she gladly accepted the items from him. She started to open the letter first, took out the note inside, and read it slowly.

'Dear Sis,

This is written by yours truly, your big bro Davis. I have some excellent news, lil' sis! Mom and Dad will be out of jail in about three months for good behavior! Isn't that great? We'll finally be reunited again! I bet you're feeling really proud, eh? Make sure to tell Cousin Raj this news, ok? I'm sure that he'll be thrilled, too.

Love ya, sis!

Davis, a.k.a. the Black Shark'

Mom and Dad are going to be released from prison? She couldn't believe this news. Tears rolled down Karen's cheeks and fell onto the letter. Clam sensed her crying and put a hand on her shoulder. Karen turned to face Clam and smiled. "Oh…These…These are happy tears, Clam. I'll be able to see my parents again. They're coming home in three months."

Clam smiled and sat beside Karen. Then he gave her a comforting hug that made Karen feel even better about the situation than ever. "Karen's happy. I'm happy," Clam exclaimed cheerfully. He suddenly remembered the other gift to Karen and said, "Open the package."

Karen looked at the package and set it on her lap. There was a small message on the side that read, 'Karen, these were delivered from your big sis, Katrina. Enjoy!' Filled with curiosity, she opened the package and peeked inside to find some surprising treats: Katrina's special tuna sandwiches. She let out a giggle and said, "I think I know just the guys who would like these…"


End file.
